# On Ad Blockers – Manu

<https://manuelmoreale.com/on-ad-blockers>

- Host: [manuelmoreale.com](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/manuelmoreale.com/)
- Saved: November 21, 2023 (2023-11-22T03:22:53Z)
- Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/2f42dc24ca48/
- JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/2f42dc24ca48.json

## What Jamie wrote

Moreale sharing his perspective on why he feels fine blocking ads in his browser. He limits the topic to just ad blocking, which I think is fine but keeps out the entire stack of surveillance software that comes along with ads. The argument that people running ad blockers are somehow hurting creators may in fact carry some water, but in my opinion no where near enough to change my mind.

I would argue that give the incredibly complex surveillance engines that watch us online, not using a content blocker and other privacy protecting software is just a bad idea.

Let's use a comparison. 

1. By running anti-spam software I’m technically harming all these spammers that wish to get some value out of shoving emails in my inbox. Is anti-spam software bad?
2. By protecting myself from ransomware I’m technically limiting the revenue of criminal organizations looking to lock my computer on me and get some Bitcoin. 

The argument is the same. The only difference is that one group is "good guys" and the other is "bad guys". The world is more grey than that. 

If you have a simple ad network that doesn't surveil users I’m happy to let this ads in. However, I don't know anyway to test that. So in the meantime, I absolutely encourage the use of all forms of privacy software that you wish to use.

My current list: [1Blocker](https://1blocker.com) and [Little Snitch Mini](https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch-mini/index.html) do most of the protecting for me, and of course I only use Safari.

## Facts

- Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/)

## Appears in

- [WT271: Weekly Thing 271 / Imperfectionist, Zeitgeisty, Inko](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/271/), Notable

## Same host

- [Places on the web – Manu](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/661ee39b7484/) (manuelmoreale.com, September 4, 2023)
- [Bots, Spiders, and Crawlers: The Results – Manu](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/153e1a3e02fe/) (manuelmoreale.com, September 28, 2023)
- [On POSSE – Manu](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/7a87e8d1a417/) (manuelmoreale.com, March 10, 2024)
- [The web is not dying – Manu](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/92c55991626e/) (manuelmoreale.com, April 28, 2024)
- [On hobbies, side projects, and money – Manu](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/237ba9b63f74/) (manuelmoreale.com, August 18, 2024)

## Saved the same week

- [The Imperfectionist: A cupboard of tools](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/378f51476630/) (ckarchive.com, November 21, 2023)
- [Privacy is Priceless, but Signal is Expensive](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/ea01dc971c3c/) (signal.org, November 21, 2023)
- [AI is about to completely change how you use computers | Bill Gates](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/9ef5b1be8121/) (gatesnotes.com, November 21, 2023)
- [Microsoft Ignite 2023 Book of News](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/317818a1bca8/) (news.microsoft.com, November 21, 2023)
- [Introducing the Functional Source License: Freedom without Free-riding](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/966ea88dcb45/) (blog.sentry.io, November 21, 2023)

## Elsewhere

- Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://manuelmoreale.com/on-ad-blockers